Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Emer Gillespie

The Photographers' Gallery in London is currently showing a selection of student work by recent graduates of English art schools. Among the 27 entries, this one in particular caught my eye (and my heart).

"Two Homes" by Emer Gillespie documents the parallels of the two separate households in which the artist’s child lives. In a rare example of the diptych form being used to its best advantage (a form much abused by student photographers) Gillespie pairs scenes of seemingly mundane objects and routines that make up the life of a child living with separated parents.

While on one hand, the images illustrate subtle connotations of gender distinction - what's most affecting is the straightforward observation of what must be undoubtedly confusing for a young child.

8 comments:

Fascinating pictures in their clear-eyed scrutiny of a very common situation, and really affecting. One feels greater sadness for the parents, who appear so unhappy in a situation no one would choose, than for the daughter, whose needs seem to be met in both households. The identical meal diptych provides welcome humour.

as a child who grew up with divorced parents, these pictures are rather familiar in a sentimental, nostalgic way. however, i would like to present an alternative to the "confusion" you cited, and the sadness felt by Don, above... for me, things were just one way in one house and another way in the other. i was happy both places; both were home. :)

"If only all blogs were as life-affirming and tender-hearted as that of gallerist James Danziger. Whether his focus falls on the work of an individual artist or a particular theme, The Year in Pictures is compulsive reading."